


On the river

by AmandaBecker



Series: What if? [11]
Category: Sanditon (TV 2019), Sanditon - Jane Austen
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:37:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21560554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmandaBecker/pseuds/AmandaBecker
Summary: What if.... Sidney had just reacted differently?
Relationships: Charlotte Heywood & Sidney Parker, Charlotte Heywood/Sidney Parker
Series: What if? [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1544161
Comments: 8
Kudos: 87





	On the river

**Author's Note:**

> The boat scene is perfect.  
> Except the annoying Mrs. C...

Sidney looked at Charlotte in awe, she was right. Marriage is a question of compatibility. Compatibility, love and affection.  
To be honest, he knew she was compatible. He felt a great affection for her and to be honest he knew from the first ball that he was in danger.  
In danger of falling in love with her. 

A little smile twitched on his face, his eyes seemed to say a thousand words. She looked at him shyly and she seemed not to understand what he wanted to tell her with all this.

Even with all their fights, he knew there was more to it. That it was her. At the same time he felt strong and weak and he liked it.  
Charlotte gave him no choice but to reconsider himself and his actions, even though he didn't know what to do near her.  
This twisting feelings in him, whether he should shout at her or kiss her senseless. Now again.  
Should he try to kiss her or have a conversation with her?  
Would she kiss him back or push him into the water. He smiled at this thought.

His eyes didn't leave hers for a moment, she breathed deeply as he leaned back to her, her hands got cold under his and he squeezed them a little. Charlotte blushed slightly and her lips opened, her breath trembled. Sidney wondered how she would react if he leaned towards her rather than back. He wanted her to feel his affection, he wanted to breathe her in.

Touching her hands wasn’t enough. The brief touch at her waist and her thigh wasn’t enough. She was shivering in this momenst as he had done so, and he wanted to see more shivers because of his touch.  
As Charlotte leaned in his direction he changed his position and leaned also in. Her breath hitched, he smiled, she smiled back, he leaned further, than..... were their interrupted by the most annoying voice.

„Sidney!“ Mrs. Campions voice was pulling him back to reality and he saw Charlotte shrink in her seat. Didn’t look up anymore, hold on the oars so desperate her knuckels went white. Sidneys thoughts were spinning.  
What would he do now?  
Went back to Eliza and her company and left Charlotte?  
Disappoint her and him to do so? Or should he disappoint Eliza and also his brother to stay where he was? Disappointing all expectations at him.  
Mrs. Campion seemed to expect more from him, just only acompany her.  
What was Charlotte expecting him to do?  
He wanted to do the right thing, but he didn’t know what it was in this moment.  
So he turned to Eliza waved his akwark little three finger wave to her and looked down to the second pair of oars.

Charlotte couldn’t belive how stupid she was. She had tried to put him from her mind, tried to avoid him and this woman and as he asked her for the boat trip she just couldn’t resist to join him. She had thought they had a special moment, she thought in this moment he was reffering about their realtionship, but he was talking about Mrs. Campion. Stupid, stupid Charlotte she grumbled in her mind.  
She knew it!  
How could she ever thought he would feel something for her?

As he stood up to get the second pair of oars, she knew they would be heading back, he would go and take Mrs. Campions arm and went with her out of sight. She couldn’t bring herself to look up to him or to the Lady at the riverbank. Starring down, without seeing something Charlotte tried to calm her heart and breath the tears away, which were burning in her eyes.  
She was taken aback as he sat down on his seat and asked in a soft voice.

„Can I ask you something, Miss Heywood?“ she looked at him briefly and looked down again.  
„Should we head back to the shore, or“ he leaned in again and catched her ungarded. She hissed, swallowed, eyes flickering, cheeks blushing.  
„or?“ she asked back, barely breathing.  
„or should we just stay on the boat a little longer?“ he looked her deeply in the eyes, and he thought he saw the same in hers what he hoped he showed her.

„Can we?“ she asked in a shy way. His heart was bumping so havily, he thought it would be burst out of his chest. Her slightly open lips distracted him.  
„what?“  
„staying?“ her voice barely a whisper and he thought he would jump up and scream for happiness in the moment he heard her. She looked away, cheeks burning, breast lifting fast, course of her havy breathing.  
„we just do it.“ He answered and smiled his beautiful smile. Like before after he had touched her accidentely at the side of her breast.  
It was very unpropper and he was ashamed and the only thing he could do was smile about it. 

Now he felt more sure of himself and his eyes were sparkeling. He saw that she was relaxing again. Sidney glanced to the side and saw, that there was no one on the shore waiting for them.  
Their were alone again.  
„Did..“ she began nervously „Mr. Parker not assumed that you... I mean, that you and Mrs. Campion.. were...“ Charlotte couldn’t say the sentence straight away and looked awkard at the water and bit her bottom lip.

If she knew that it drive him mad? He tried to focus of the question, she didn’t really asked, but he couldn’t concentrate when she was sitting there with all her beautifulness and bite her lip. He dreamed a lot of doing this instead of her.  
„Please don’t,“ he reached to withdraw her lip from her teeth, but he hold back at the very last moment.  
She could feel the idea of his touch on her lips and she release it with a gasp.

„Why?“ she whispered.  
„It’s driving me mad,“ he answered honestly and blushed slightly on his own words, he had never meant to tell her this  
„I wish I could do it“ he muttered.

„What do you wish to do? heading back or not, I don’t understand.“  
„Oh you were thinking of that, no...“  
„Please Mr. Parker tell me, you are confusing me, I don’t understand anything right now.“  
„It’s driving me mad, when you bite your lip.“ He smirked ashamed as the truth settled down.  
„Oh.“  
„Yes,..“  
„So you wish to....oh.“ now she understood and her blush streched over her neck to under the collar of her dress.  
He would love to find out to where it went. Clearing his throat he has to change the topic or he would definitly try to find it out now!

„Mrs. Campion and I are aquainted. Nothing more yet, although we were....something a decade ago.“  
„But you invited her....?“ she asked, glancing up to him and looking back immediately.  
„My job was it to show her the bathing machines, the beach, and the river. I am also forced to acompany her during the day, but I guess...“ he sighed.  
„what?“ she asked looking him straight in the eye.  
„I don’t want to.“ he smiled. „I just want to..“  
„what you want?“ she asked, her voice a deep whisper, it send a shiver down his spine and he swallowed.  
„I just want to be with you.“

„Oh“, she tried to collect herself, her face a mix between a smile and a disbeliving expression on her face  
„that is... I didn’t...“ Charlotte was never lost in words, but this time she couldn’t barely think straight.  
„neither do I.“ he smirked. Questinally she looked up to him, he stopped the boat and leant closer to her, she also get closer to him.  
Their eyes locked.  
Their breath tickling warm on their skin.

„I don’t know how we can do it, because ...“ he smiled at her, she looked down confused, she didn’t know what to think  
„I don’t mind, but when you...“ he stuttered.  
„Could you please be more specific?“ she blurred tired of his half sentences.

„Yes, you are right,“ he took a deep breath and said in a low, but strong voice.  
„I want to be with you.“ he let out a deep breath.  
„You want to be with me?“ her voice shaking „the rest of the day, so far as you are not racing or acompany some visitors.“

„More assumptions Miss Heywood?“ he smirked. She looked him in the eyes again and narrowed hers. Sidney reached out and touched her lightly with his fingertip, stroking out the fold between her eyebrows and let his hand slowly slide to her cheek. She was burning.

„I want spend the whole day with you,...and“ he led his hands fall to hers on her lap and pull it to his mouth. He kissed the back of her hand.  
„the truth is, I want to be with you, whenever and for how long you want.“ She swallowed then and tears were burning in her eyes. She depressed a smile again and asked him.  
„whenever and for how long, would you want, Mr. Parker?“ 

„for always and forever.“


End file.
